Matt O’Brien, Southwestern College head men’s basketball coach and athletic director, recently spent a week in Paris coaching a USA basketball team at the Paris World Games. 

The team is put together by PhD Hoops Travel Tours which offers a selection of distinct travel tours each summer.

The team consisted of players ages 17 to 21 and competed against teams from Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, and France.  The USA team, which consisted of players from New York, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, went 3-2.

“It’s an awesome experience to represent the United States,” O’Brien says.  “You cannot duplicate the feeling of coaching a team with USA on their chest.”

According to O’Brien, the team had just three practices before competing.

“I like putting together a team; figuring out our strengths and weaknesses,” O’Brien says.  “It’s exciting getting young people to play for each other and for our country.”

O’Brien credits his longtime friendship with Richie Schueler, owner and CEO of PhD Hoops, for the opportunity.  Schueler is a former college basketball player, 10-year college basketball coach, and current basketball analyst for Fox Sports and the ESPN family of networks. PhD Hoops was designed to give players and coaches a platform to exchange basketball knowledge, ideas, and resources with the intent of enhancing the game worldwide.

The eight-day trip also incorporated some sightseeing which included visiting the beach of Normandy, the Eifel Tower, and The Louvre Museum. O’Brien was particularly awestruck with the Olympic rings that are currently hung on the Eifel Tower.  The Summer Olympics will be held in Paris beginning July 26. O’Brien says that they would light up at 11 p.m. and were amazing.